Groth sorry for marital spat

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Brisbane - Australian tennis player Jarmila Groth issued an apology on Friday after microphones picked up a foul-mouthed rant at husband and stand-in coach Sam during her Brisbane International quarter-final.

Jarmila twice called for husband Sam to come on court during her 6-3 6-4 loss to German Andrea Petkovic on Thursday, venting her frustration when he tried to offer her some advice.

Unfortunately for the Groths, courtside microphones allowed those at the stadium watching an internal feed to hear their frank exchanges.

After she lost the first set Sam told an apparently unimpressed Jarmila to mix her game up more, saying the big crowd was right behind her.

Then when she was behind in the second, she called him back to tell him his tactics were not working.

But after he pointed out that the ball was heavy in the cool, damp conditions, the Slovakian-born Jarmila had heard enough.

"Don't talk to me like a fucking tourist," she snapped, her accent far more Australian than Slovakian on this occasion.

"Are you watching this?"

Groth laughed it off when asked about the exchange at her press conference.

"I guess you have to get angry at someone and I couldn't break any rackets because I just got them," she said.

"He knows I didn't mean it."

But after the (edited) exchange was released by broadcaster Channel 7 and shown on numerous television stations on Friday, Jarmila issued a public apology.

"I'm really sorry if I offended anyone during my match last night," she said.

"I've already apologised to my gorgeous husband Sam and I'm lucky because as a fellow player he understands how emotional it can be on court during a tough match.... My passion and will to win got the better of me on the night and I was angry because I wanted to perform at my best."

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